Cold Steel
by HaganeNoWriter
Summary: The young state alchemist walked up the steps to Eastern Command, a decorative steel helmet tightly held in his hands. As he passed, the other officers gave him curious glances that soon turned sympathetic. It had finally happened, but nobody wished for it. Edward Elric had broken.


**A/N: HELLO! YES, I'M ALIVE! Wow, I haven't updated... anything... in a while... sorry. *laughs nervously* HEY! I have REASON as to why I haven't been updating. I kind of... latched onto a new anime, and I have been obsessed with it. What anime would that be you ask? HUNTER X HUNTER OF COURSE! So, hehe, expect Hunter x Hunter stories in the future. Anyway, I've been working on this oneshot for QUITE a while, and I just finished it. I guess you can consider this a darkfic, but it's definitely a deathfic. ANYWAY! READ ZE STORY!**

Sadness. Guilt. Unbearable pain. These are the emotions that were flowing through Edward Elric's mind as he walked toward Central Headquarters. He was wearing his signature black and red attire, and his hair was messy, but in its usual braid. His eyes golden eyes were dull and dead to the world, and dark circles hung underneath. He was also carrying a peculiar object in his hands. A steel helmet with a spike protruding from the forehead, and a ribbon of hair sprouting from the back. The eye slots were empty, and devoid of any of the life it once held. This was all that was left of Alphonse Elric.

Edward tightly clutched the helmet in his hands, so that the front of the helmet was facing him. His mind was blank as he stared ahead. He had entered the Command Center, and was now drifting toward Colonel Mustang's office; dreading the report he had to give. Then, he would have to tell his commanding officer about the mission, but what would hurt the most, telling the Colonel that he'd failed to save Alphonse; His only family left.

The mission had been to catch a thief in a town to the south. After Edward had apprehended the criminal, they had run into Scar. Scar was in hot pursuit of them for at least an hour, and that meant an hour of running. Edward was exhausted, and that's when Scar decided to make his move. But, just before Scar's tattooed arm made contact with Edward's forehead, Alphonse jumped in the way, and his armor was destroyed; the bloodseal was shattered. His helmet had landed next to Edward, as all he could do was watch his little brother being blown to pieces.

Both Scar and Edward had sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Scar was paralyzed with shock of what he had just done. It was Edward that moved first.

"I'LL KILL YOU SCAR!" Edward screamed. He leaped over to Scar, who was still paralyzed with shock, and pinned him to the ground, so that he was sitting on his , with both fists, he began to relentlessly punch Scar's face. Scar didn't stop him.

"YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T HURT HIM! YOU SAID YOU WERE AFTER ME!" Edward punched again and again. Soon, Scar's face had blood running down it. At a final punch, Scar finally snapped out of his shock. He pushed Edward back, and backed a few feet away.

"Fullmetal Alchemist, you truly have my condolences. I wasn't aiming for your brother." Scar looked down at his hands.

"Killing you for my cause would no longer be justified." Scar told Edward with a slightly trembling voice. It's true that Scar had killed many State Alchemists, and he was no stranger to death thanks to the civil war but he had never thought of killing an innocent child. He had killed an innocent child who had his childhood taken from him because of Alchemy. It wasn't fair for him to die at Scar's hand. Scar was now just as guilty as the State Alchemists that killed his brethren.

Edward stared at Scar, tears starting to form in his eyes, and he fell to his knees. Both of his hands reacked up shakily, and gripped his hair. He screamed out in agony, longing for his little brother. Scar didn't interrupt him, and simply watched. He watched the pain that he had put this child through.

Edward crawled over to the side, and picked up Alphonse's helmet. He hugged the metal plating to his chest, and sobbed. This continued for a while, until Edward had tired himself out. He was exhausted from crying, feeling pain, running from Scar. Edward eventually passed out right in that spot on the ground, still holding the helmet, even in sleep. That's the last thing Edward remembered doing.

* * *

There he was now, walking toward his dreaded meeting with his commanding officer. It's funny, Edward usually hated giving reports because he didn't want to socialize with the Colonel, but now, things are different. Nothing that he hated the military seemed to matter anymore. His life didn't even make sense. He doesn't know what to do.

Walking down a hallway, he passed several soldiers. He outranked the majority of them, so they saluted as he walked by. Edward paid them no mind, and kept walking. The soldiers noticed this, and couldn't help but stare as he walked by, rumors drifting from their mouths in hushed whispers.

At last, Edward had reached Colonel Mustang's office. He gently pushed the door open, and walked in.

"Hello, Edward. Are you ready to give your report?" Lieutenant Hawkeye greeted.

"Hey, Chief. No angry entrance today?" Havoc called. Their salutations fell on deaf ears as Edward walked right past them to Mustang's desk. They knew that something was wrong. Also, why was Ed carrying Al's helmet? Edward took a stack of papers out of his coat pocket, and set them on the wooden surface, still holding Al's helmet. Mustang looked up from his paperwork.

"You're awfully quiet today, Fullmetal. Or I couldn't hear you behind my paperwork, with it blocking your face due to your lack of height." Mustang said. Edward remained uncharacteristically silent. It was then that Mustang noticed the gleaming metal object in his subordinate's hands.

"Fullmetal, why do you have Alphonse's helmet?" At this question, Edward visibly flinched and looked away. He tightened his grip on the steel, and hugged it closer to his chest. at this point, every member of Mustang's team was looking at Edward, and they were worried by his unusual behavior.

"Fullmetal, where's Alphonse?" Mustang repeated, a tone of fear and disbelief laced into his words. No reply.

"Edward! Where's your little brother?!" Mustang shouted, starting to panic. At this, Edward clenched his teeth, and his shoulders started to shake. Mustang couldn't believe his eyes.

"I couldn't protect him. He's my little brother and I couldn't protect him. It's all my fault." Edward forced out in a harsh whisper, trying to hold back a sob. All the attention in the room was pointed to him. Edward walked over one of the couches and sat down, pulling the helmet and his knees to his chest. Mustang got up from his desk, and sat down next to Edward on the couch. Hawkeye did the same, so that she was sitting next to Mustang. The rest of the team also walked over. It was then that they noticed the dark circles and redness that surrounded the teen's eyes.

"Edward, what happened?" Hawkeye asked softly, already having a hunch of what Edward was going to say. That didn't make it any less terrifying, though.

"Al's gone. It's all my fault. I'm supposed to protect _him_, not the other way around! It's not fair!" Edward choked out. He was still trying to hold back tears.

Edward's declaration struck them hard. The realization that they would never see the two brothers together. The would never get to see his real body. They would never get to see Edward reach the end of his journey, he didn't have to anymore. What would be the point of it now? Everyone knew that Edward never intended to get his limbs back, so why would he search for the stone now? Edward still clutched the helmet that once housed his only brother's soul, but now all that was left was just cold steel.

Finally, tears had began to spill from Edward's eyes, and he was shaking uncontrollably. Hawkeye placed her hand on his back, and rubbed gently, offering any comfort that she could. The rest of the team simply stood there in shock. Nobody had ever seen Edward like this.

"It's not fair. I want to see Al again! I don't care anymore!" Edward yelled through his sobs. All of Edward's determination was gone, and they all had the same question on their minds.

What is he going to do?

**A/N: Phew. I almost cried when writing this. I feel really awful... hehe. BTW, I don't know when I'll update ****_Tale of Two Dementors. _****Right now, I'm trying to find some inspiration. I will also be posting more oneshots here and there. Anyway...**

**Until Next Time, **

**~HaganeNoWriter**


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